| Over There with Private Graham: The Compelling World War 1 Journal of an American Doughboy Contributor(s): Jarvis, Bruce A. (Editor), Badgley, C. Stephen (Editor), Graham, William J. (Author) |
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ISBN: 099880455X ISBN-13: 9780998804552 Publisher: Badgley Pub Co OUR PRICE: $47.45 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2018 * Not available - Not in print at this time * |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Military - World War I - Biography & Autobiography | Military - History | Military - United States |
| Physical Information: 1.28" H x 8.5" W x 11.02" (3.22 lbs) 472 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1900-1919 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: An American Doughboy in World War 1. What was it really like?... Literally a century in the making, this book is the result of one street-wise and peace-loving but fiercely patriotic American soldier who went well beyond the typical censored letters, pocket diaries, and post-war memoirs to help answer that question for future generations. Through a unique combination of skill, circumstances and strong personal motivation, Private William J. Graham (Company B, 103rd Military Police Battalion, 28th Division/First Army) delivers one of the most compelling, detailed, and true real-time eyewitness accounts of an American soldier's W.W. 1 experience ever recorded and available in its entirety now for the first time Through his keen eyes and artful powers of description, it is not difficult to imagine yourself slogging through the muddy blood-spattered fields of the Western Front as the earth trembles and German shells scream overhead...where hunger, "cooties," and death are constant companions. Private Graham's uncensored journal of over 900 hand-written pages was penned by him - not from fading memory but incredibly in France and Germany while the events he describes actually unfolded around him under raw, filthy field conditions. Richly illustrated with rare original and previously unpublished images, this book gives readers an authentic and powerfully moving description of the horrific sights and emotions of Americans at war with the German "Hun" in the world's first-ever global conflict. This work is of unique value to the historian or student of the period serving as an accurate and superbly detailed description of what many U.S. soldiers experienced "doing their bit" while struggling to survive yet another day ..."Somewhere in France" |
Contributor Bio(s): Jarvis, Bruce A.: - William James Graham was born on November 30th, 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to William and Margaret (McAvoy) Graham. He was the youngest of six siblings (two boys and four girls). His father William Sr. (a veteran of the Civil War, Co. K, 81st Pennsylvania Infantry), died in late 1880. A year later, his mother Margaret also died prematurely at age 32, leaving William an orphan at only three years of age. He was raised with, along with his sisters and brother, by his Irish-born maternal grandmother McAvoy. As with many in the working class of his generation, Graham's formal education ended after the 8th grade. He grew up and spent most of his life in the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood once known fondly as "The Meadows" and now referred to as "Eastwick." William was married to Rebecca (Stephen) in 1901 and must have taken up as a Philadelphia policeman shortly thereafter. The first daughter of what would be seven children with Rebecca arrived in 1903 with their last together (a son) in 1916. The 1910 census confirms that William was employed by the Philadelphia City Police Department which was to be his lifelong career interrupted only by the Great War. Perhaps his home life was somehow lacking or that he was swept up with the general "war fever" of 1917, but William J. Graham enlisted as a volunteer on July 20, 1917 according to Pennsylvania National Guard records. His physical description being "38 years and 8 months old, 5' 10-1/2" in height, dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair." Whatever his true motivation for enlistment was, it must have been extremely compelling to part with his home, large family, and job. At nearly 39 years of age upon enlistment, he was significantly more mature than the typical enlistee, regular, or drafted man of World War I whose average age was somewhere in the mid-twenties. In August of 1917, the Pennsylvania National Guard was nationalized as the twenty-eighth U.S. Infantry Division. They organized and trained at Camp Hancock, Georgia from August 1917 through April 1918. Private Graham left for France with the 28th Division on May 7th of 1918 arriving at an English rest camp on May 16th. He served in France then in Germany as part of the Occupation Forces until September 9th, 1919. William Graham was honorably discharged from military service on September 15, 1919 at the rank of Sergeant. |